USA -- eBay looks out for BUYERS and has "Buyer Protection" but nothing for Sellers. I have been a member of eBay for 14 years, sold more than 550 items, have a 99.2% approval rating, and all ratings for customer service are 4 1/2 stars out of 5, and I was suspended from selling. eBay can suspend you for any reason they deem without cause or for a cause they deem important. They still want me to buy but they are not letting me sell on eBay ever again. Try Amazon Marketplace, they seem to be more customer service oriented. Good Luck.

Company Response 07/15/2015:

Even after following the advice of one of their associates on ebay, I still received 1 negative feedback. After a lengthy explanation as to why I was uncomfortable shipping my product to the customer, whom I was really mistrusting due to his behavior on the messaging system, I was told to just refund his money and then call back if he left negative feedback. When I called to request that it be removed, as I was told by the associate that it would not be a problem they then refused to help me.
I work too hard to put up with that. They reap much benefit from my hard work. IF YOU USE THE EBAY SITE TO SELL YOUR PRODUCT, DON'T EXPECT THEM TO HELP YOU AS A SELLER AND MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW YOUR SELLER FEES. I WAS CHARGED FOR MY SHIPPING COST THROUGH FED X TWICE ON SEVERAL ITEMS. IF I HAD NOT BEEN PAYING ATTENTION IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NOTICED. IT WAS OVER $100 IN OVERCHARGE FOR DUPLICATE SHIPPING CHARGES THEY CALLED IT A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM. I DO HAVE SOME REALLY GREAT CUSTOMERS AND THEY LIKE MY PRODUCT. HMMMMM I'LL FIND A BETTER SITE. IF YOU ARE AN EBAY INVESTOR, DON'T BELIEVE THE NUMBERS THAT ARE PUBLISHED. ALL IT TAKES IS A "glitch IN THE SYSTEM" TO MAKE THAT LOOK HOWEVER THEY WANT IT TO Imagine the impact of $100 per seller for 1 month just before financial reports are published

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2 Way or 4 Way They GET You

By Linda - 05/03/2012

Rating: 1/51

PRESTONSBURG, KENTUCKY -- I am on disability and was trying to make it. I sold items over $600.00 in a month and a half, yet there is a low amount in my account, the rest went for items listed. Then I sold an item worth $170.00. Now it is on hold because buyer said she did not get it. I gave information that showed I mailed it. Don't sell out of the USA, you get ripped off. That money was taken out of my account and put in her's, after eBay/PayPal had been told at customs that my item was there, still on hold.

I retained a lawyer with some friends of mine that had been through the same thing. Right now, our group has grown to 143 people. We are taking our downloads and tracking numbers, and printed where it shows. We will not be cheated anymore. I lost items, but no more! I want justice. We are also going to squeaky wheel.com, also to the B.B.B.

CALIFORNIA -- I sent the letter included below to eBay in December 2012 with no acknowledgment.
I have several emails from eBay and spoke with them as recently as Saturday June 1, 2013- on which date I was told if I paid an outstanding balance of $8.95 my account would be reinstated in 24 hours. I paid it immediately and my account remained suspended. I called again on June 3, 2013 and was told if I enrolled a credit card as an eBay fees backup payment method, then my account would be reinstated immediately. It was not and is not.

I called again on June 4, 2013 and was informed that because I had a number of unpaid item cases that I was banned for life on eBay. I asked to speak with someone to appeal that decision based on the fact that I was in a very abusive relationship with a man determined to do everything he could to hurt me emotionally, physically, financially and socially.

He had access to all of my passwords, my computer, iPod, phone and phone records, banking, credit cards and he set forth to discredit me and succeeded. Every single bank, credit card company, family member, health care worker has worked with me to restore my credibility and fix the damage done except eBay - the one I depend on to earn a living.

They will not allow me to appeal with documentation of the severe abuse he subjected me to and blame me for the damage he did and will not reconsider any legal, physician's statement, letters of support from domestic violence advocates, proof of me changing all my accounts, phone number. And because he could access that account on my computer, they have let him do the worst damage imaginable - I have suffered terrible economic losses and uncertainty over being banned from selling on eBay without any consideration for reasons that has ever been fully articulated.

I can no longer support myself at all and have had no luck finding work. I am on the verge of becoming homeless and have no way to pay for my room I rent, phone, medicine, bus pass and buy my cat food. My parents are deceased and my siblings cannot or will not help - I have exhausted all help my friends can offer. I can't believe that a company of this size and importance doesn't have any policies regarding victims of domestic violence.

Of course I cannot be the only person to discover selling on eBay as a way to support oneself and get out. Problem is he installed software on my computer and abused all my personal information. He even sent private pictures to my family and friends. Can anyone help me with this?

How can a company be so capricious and dishonest and outright ruin someone's life when by their own admission my compliance with their rules and policies was always high and my feedback 100% positive? Can someone PLEASE help me?

You don't know me. I am not anyone notable. I have been absent from the world at large for years only having just begun to re-emerge after escaping an abusive relationship that continues to threaten to swallow me alive leaving no trace of my existence. I have no money, no list of distinguished accomplishments. My parents are deceased and having grown up in dysfunction, I have no other family, no relatives to whom I can turn to for help.

Like most battered women, I have no friends - developing any type of friendship was prohibited by my abuser. After 2 hospitalizations and having nearly succeeded in ending my own life to escape the intolerable conditions in which I was intimidated and coerced to exist - I knew I had to escape which meant I had to have some means with which to support myself. Extricating oneself from domestic violence is near impossible without help. I am afraid to seek regular employment because my abuser Is determined to destroy me because I left.

I was able to escape by opening a clandestine eBay account and selling clothing and boxed family heirlooms on eBay... I left in March and have encountered numerous difficulties and sabotage by my former partner. By the grace of God, through eBay, I was able to break free from my abuser and manage to keep a roof over my head and get my basic needs met - and I do mean just barely!- but I am alive, I exist and I am visible again which is worth more than anyone apart from those who share my experience can ever imagine!

Today, every hope I dared to have again, my ability to support myself and my freedom - actually my survival were all shattered today when eBay suspended my account because I couldn't always pay for items- which I regret and would gladly forfeit any privilege to buy on eBay if I could just keep my seller account which to me, quite literally is life or death.

I have called repeatedly today. Been told to stop crying and calm down as calls were lost during transfers, being left on 20 to 30 minute holds only to be told someone would call me back but I had to change my number last week due to harassment from my ex and no one seems to understand when I beg them to update my number so someone CAN call me back nor will anyone explain WHY they did this without telling me that this was about to happen - HOW did this come about? WHY no mention of this.

I spoke to them earlier this week. I was led to believe everything was okay and I was not about to be suspended - and why they feel I had too many "not as described issues" when None have counted against me and there were 3 ever opened... But no one will speak to me and explain what happened or why I wasn't instructed that this was imminent.

They restricted my buying privilege for 7 days, reinstated it yesterday and then suspended my account indefinitely today and tell me if I try to open another account they'll suspend it too... I am desperate for information - for an opportunity to right where I have erred and have more guidance - some concrete rules to follow and clear proscribed consequences not things that hit you out of the blue.

I am so desperate, I am begging for your help. I know from reading your story that you are on a committee and clearly someone eBay values and is proud to be affiliated with. I have nowhere to turn and no place else to go. If I can't have my seller account restored right away - I will be homeless in 2 weeks or forced to return to my ex where I cannot even fathom the punishing hell he will subject me to for having left. Neither option is livable - that account is literally my life.

I never have to be allowed to buy anything on eBay ever again- just someone please, anyone- help me at least have a chance to talk to someone or be granted only selling privileges - or some forgiveness - and FAST! I cannot make rent come January 1 without the account restored - not asking anyone for any money, any support other than to believe in me, honor the fact that while imperfect, I am doing my best to pull myself up and out of darkness ... Please!

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Join the Campaign - No EBay Charging for Auctions Ahead of Time! Say No to Fee-Greedy Execs!

By bigmikes76257 - 01/17/2015

Rating: 2/51

USA, CALIFORNIA -- Yes, once again, eBay is choosing to rip off the seller by charging for auctions in which there are no sales. I, for one, will not open another auction until you have returned to asking for payment after each sale, as opposed to charging for non-selling auctions, as well as completed sales.

It is completely unnecessary to do it this current way, as opposed to charging a little more on each completed sale, if that is truly what the company needs to do; however, my strong suspicion is your main officers are greedy for extra profit, even though they make more & more money simply through product price inflation, which gives eBay and PayPal increased dollars in fees. I simply don't understand these boneheaded moves.

I can guarantee you, eBay & PayPal already know how unpopular a decision you have made, based on what your selling customers are telling you & the way they are walking away, by slowly pulling product off your shelves, & taking their business somewhere else, as each auction becomes no more, due to this barbaric double-dip charging.

I am so ticked off at your executives right now, whereas, I was essentially moderately happy with eBay & PayPal, your pseudo 'spin-off' company, where, combined, you make 15%+ profit on each sale. Sure you charged a little too much, but at least we could measure our profit & loss on each sale, as opposed to getting ripped off before we even sell an item.

I hope you don't draw out the inevitable move back to sanity for months & months; that would be foolhardy. In the meantime, I'll move my sales to Etsy, where we have a much better deal, albeit less of a buyer base - & perhaps we will b able to build up Etsy & other sites to make the 'playing field' a little more even... but still, I would hate to see eBay to be so greedy & foolish that the company stumbles its way down the path of self-destruction, like such companies as Blockbuster, for instance, who stood in the dark, completely clueless as to what was going on around them. That would be a shame for all of us, eBay & PayPal, included.

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Ebay, 1st Timers Do Not Use Them, Nightmare to Deal With.

By Robert - 01/04/2014

Rating: 2/51

INTERNET, CALIFORNIA -- I was lucky enough to get a PS4 at launch but decided to resale it on eBay for extra Xmas money. Listed it on eBay with a buy it now price, a reasonable price and lower than everyone on eBay. But perhaps that's where I went wrong. I got the attention of others trying to sell their PS4 for a higher price. They made dummy accounts that would buy it now and not pay to get rid of my listing.

After a few days of no payment, I relist... Another dummy bidder bought it but did not pay. Keep in mind, this takes a few days each time you relist, a lot of emails trying to communicate with the bidder. Why is it so easy to make a dummy accounts and bid out your competition???? Why are their no safeguards against this?

Now comes the kicker. eBay sends an invoice even though nobody paid. Invoice was over 150 bucks. The stupid thing is eBay knows the bidders did not pay, they know those were dummy accounts to bid out their competition, yet they still charge you the selling fees as if you sold multiple items. Worst yet, you cannot give negative feedback to those dummy accounts so they can do that as much as they want.

So as soon I saw the invoice, I called customer service. Waited 45 minutes to talk to someone, then was told I needed to follow their process to get rid of their selling fees. Took about 30 minutes to walk me through the process. If you are new to eBay like I am, the process is not very intuitive and is hidden and you will need to talk to someone. I was assured everything was taken care of and I would not be billed by eBay. At this point, no harm was done because the invoice did not automatically take the $$$ out of my bank account.

A few weeks later, eBay charges me 70 dollars.!?!? This time they took it out of my bank account!!! I call eBay, wait 45 mins... I found out I missed 1 button click on my last call and that I did not receive full credit even though I was promised the issue would be taken care of and I would not be charged.

So, I had to be walked through the process to find the hidden grayed out button, clicked it and the lady on the phone said it will take 2 weeks to refund my money. 2 weeks... are you kidding me? At this point I'm mad. I demanded to speak to supervisor to see if I can get my money back sooner because I thought I took care of everything a few weeks prior on my 1st call.

The supervisor was no help, said it was my fault and that because I missed the button press there was nothing they could do. I'm sorry I don't know eBay's processes to get a refund when someone doesn't pay. So after venting for a few minutes, that got us nowhere... I hung up.

The whole process to get a refund is flawed unless you've gone through the process a few times. 2nd, eBay allows dummy accounts to bid your auctions out and then 3rd charges you for the selling fees even though eBay knows you did not get paid by the bidder. It's a scammer's dream, the whole system can be abused worse than a scammer on Craigslist. You would be crazy to want to pay for that level of service. Giving it 2 stars only because they are refunding my money... even though it will take 2 weeks to get it.

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EBay Is Open Door for Smuggling

By Mel - 07/30/2013

Rating: 1/51

CALIFORNIA -- I bid a cell phone on eBay from a seller "**" ( no longer listing as seller from what I heard from eBay they terminate this seller). Cell phone description is "brand new, unlocked ( means you can use any sim card worldwide). I paid $481, no description where it's coming from, where it was manufactured. But instead all I know is I am making my transaction from an American resident and was affirmed by eBay that this seller is a U. S. resident.

Date of transactions are as follows: bidding ended 3-27-13, I paid it right away cause I want to get it fast to excitement. Waiting period is till 4-5-13. I was constantly checking online the status of shipment cause my waiting period is over.

My expectation from eBay at least email me. Since it's a computerized technology of selling stuff, they would monitor this seller and ask the seller why is it not yet being mailed for shipment since they already collected the fees for this transaction. I presumed they never care cause I did not received any email from them or from the seller. So at this instance I decided to ask the seller about this fully paid transaction. The seller wrote a reply telling me its " out of stock", to cut short I have a bitter communication with this seller.

I send a communication that I am going to sue him/her in the court of Washington state for "breach of contract on a fully paid item" and he/she will be coming to my state to attend the hearing and will pay all the legal fees. But I stated a demand that I should receive the item on or before 4-10-13, otherwise he or she have to face the legal consequence.

Comes 4-10-13 I got the package shipment. To my excitement I opened the package and install my existing sim card from my iPhone and boom it works seamlessly. But comes 1st week of July 2013 this Nokia Lumia acting up differently showing sluggish, slow, goes to different windows, goes on a blank dark screen. I search on internet how to reset this cell phone at Nokia.com / support page. So it did work for a little bit amount of time then it started acting up again differently.

This time I called USA Nokia and tried to get a warranty support from them. First Nokia asked me to give them the "IMEI no." Come to find out Nokia USA said they will not cover this for warranty cause it was made in "Vietnam".

I tried calling back Nokia on different occasions expecting some changes about giving warranty but unfortunately "negative". Now I started investigating on the packaging of shipment I came to find out it came from Hong Kong and manufactured in Vietnam. Those are two different countries. I explained this to eBay but help still to no avail, eBay only wants their monies of listing fees.

So consumers out there beware of Nokia product. They don't give international warranty though it was affirmed that it is their product. On this 3rd week of July I called eBay trying how to resolve the issue. EBay representative can't help me, so I went to a different venue and it's the credit card company Citibank. This credit card company is really very helpful when it comes to product dissatisfaction. What my credit card did is they called PayPal and we are on a group conversation over the phone and PayPal said they will try to resolved this issue within 30 days and send me by email reference case number.

Presently, I'm waiting what's going to come up. Recap is eBay is not worth keeping in buying stuff and its a wide door open for smuggling since seller was able to shipped this item in USA avoiding to pay import tax.

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The "eBafia"

By PhilipCohen - 03/19/2010

EBay (aka “the eBafia”) is demonstrably a totally unscrupulous, dysfunctional, criminal organization! How could that be, you ask? Well, with much effort and some multi-auction analysis, it can be very clearly demonstrated (see the following link) that shill bidding fraud by unscrupulous professional sellers on nominal-start auctions is rampant on eBay auctions, and the executives “in the know” at eBay, unless they are actually even more naive than they apparently think all we simple consumers are, cannot but be aware of that criminal activity.

And, of course they will say they are not aware, because they do not want to be aware, because if they admit that they are aware of such criminal activity (which they cannot but be, and from which they are profiting), and they do nothing effective about it (which they don't), then they are guilty of the crime of “criminal facilitation”. It's as simple as that!

And, it can also be demonstrated that, contrary to their claims, they do not do anything proactive nor truly effective to prevent such criminal activity. Indeed, they have done the very opposite. During the second half of 2008 eBay introduced anonymous non-unique masking of bidding IDs, which serves no logical purpose other than to deliberately further obscure such criminal activity and aid and abet said criminal shill-bidding sellers to maximize their sale prices, thus maximizing eBay's final valuation fee (FVF).

It's even worse in the UK, where the form of bidder masking makes it simply impossible for buyers to detect the unscrupulous, sophisticated shill-bidding professional sellers that undoubtedly now infest eBay UK auctions. Needless to say sales by auction on the UK site have collapsed to a small fraction of what they used to be. Is it any wonder then that, relatively speaking, buyers are staying away, and eBay's marketplace business, the world over, is still going down the toilet?From an eBay buyer's point of view, the full ugly story of eBay, and the proof of eBay's criminality, at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6502877

It is about time that some competent authority in the US shone a bright light under this slimy rock. eBay: Dead Man Walking! Then there is PayPal— about the only part of the eBay business that is not, relatively speaking, going backwards. PayPal is an unregulated, unprincipled, systemically dysfunctional, amateur organization (just like its ugly mother, eBay).

PayPal and Bill Me Later are not a bank, are not regulated as banks are, do not subscribe the banks' credit card code of ethical behaviour, and yet offer banking-type services, services that would be more appropriately and more competently carried out under the auspices of the real banking community (via their credit card organization partners).

The simple fact is that without the bankers' knowledge of the entities involved in the transactions, PayPal, or any other non-bank provider, will always be handicapped. Non-bank providers will never guarantee anything for the buyer or seller because they simply cannot have the bankers' level of knowledge of the entities involved.

The head turkey at eBay, ‘Noise' Donahoe, has occasionally talked of the possibility of offloading PayPal, because he is just barely smart enough to know that when the major credit card companies do get off their butts and introduce a like card/terminal-less payments system to complement their credit card system, they will do it properly, and the dysfunctional PayPal will then sink like a stone — other than, possibly, on what is by then left of the Donahoe-shrinking eBay marketplace.

Possibly, the banks may even let PayPal keep those problematic customers that the banks, who will always better ‘know' the entities involved, might not likely allow a merchant-type facility. If Donahoe has any brain at all he will be actively trying to sell PayPal to the banks to complement their credit card system; but I doubt the banks would want to lower their image any further by associating themselves with the likes of PayPal; not even for a peppercorn consideration would the banks touch such a dysfunctional amateur operation as PayPal, I suspect.

Does anyone then think that ‘all the banks' are not watching this market segment with interest, and is it possible that PayPal could be having some negative effect on their credit card business? Why then would ‘the banks' not be considering a like system to complement their existing card systems? The simple fact is that anything that PayPal can do ‘the banks' can do better (read ‘properly') and, after all, every internet banking user is already set up to receive such a service directly, efficiently and securely, from their bank.

Do we then need to offer the banks and the major credit card companies another such monopoly-type situation? Ideally not. But, having said that, within the credit card system the individual banks do (marginally) compete with each other on terms, interest rates, etc. Regardless, it would be nice to have a card/terminal-less system that worked efficiently and effectively—as does the banks' credit card system. Regrettably (or thankfully, some say), PayPal does not have such a partnership with ‘all the banks' and so PayPal can never offer that same effectiveness.

My only surprise is that ‘all the banks', via their credit card partners, have not yet offered their own system. When they do, I suspect that it will be bye, bye, PayPal—you most ugly of daughters. And, more importantly, we will then have a system that works properly, just like our credit cards do! In support of the above comment I offer an introduction to the full sad/ugly story of eBay/PayPal at http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6502877

How did this clown, this clown Donahoe, ever get to be CEO of a listed public company? Oh, that's right, she who would be governor of California selected him. Donahoe is undoubtedly going to go down in US corporate history as the man who literally did ‘kill the golden goose'. And, if you want a laugh or a cry (whatever moves you), take a look at this recent video interview of this clumsy, inarticulate, chimpanzee (the hand language tells it all) at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgmBYHOvb8Q&feature=player_embedded

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Ebay and Me

By ebayandme - 03/30/2011

I sold a solid 14k pendant and gold chain on eBay for 172.00. The buyer, I think, had a change of mind and told eBay it was not as pictured. I had 11 pics, all perfect to show the beauty of this item. Anyway, eBay does not protect the buyers at all, and no returns means nothing to eBay. Why have that option? eBay will always find in favor of the buyer. So buyers be happy, you can screw us and eBay will back you up. So sellers, don't even bother to try to fight it. Just give back the money regardless of why. The buyer will always win.

Some buyers get caught up in the bidding war and lose control and we sellers lose. We lose shipping cost, time and reputation. We lose - it is a no win selling on eBay. I think they want only power sellers not us little guys. eBay and PayPal are one and the same now that eBay bought PayPal. Isn't that handy for eBay. High fees, no protection for sellers at all. I am fed up with eBay and all sellers should stop selling on eBay and then see where eBay will end up. eBay and buyers, lol but no sellers to buy from. Wouldn't that be nice? Have fun eBay. You will see, in the end you will be the big loser.

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E-Bay Punishes Buyers

By MB - 11/26/2012

Rating: 1/51

I have in the last few months purchased on eBay hundreds of items and returned about 10% of them. All returns, without exception, were due to items being not as described, and with only two exceptions. I had to pay return shipping for these misrepresented items. I asked questions ahead of time to confirm what I would expect to receive, but still received items that were warped and broken, wool sweaters that had moth holes or were rendered completely unusable from improper laundering, among other misrepresentations.

I really did not mind paying to return items that were misrepresented. I chalked it up to the fact that everyone is human, and sellers overlook things sometimes. I also realize that to buy on eBay is to assume some risk of this nature.

My reward for this? My account has been suspended because of too many returns outside seller's return policies. A review of sellers I purchased from showed me a true and interesting fact. Nearly all the returns I had to make because items were misrepresented were purchased from sellers with no-return policies. I found only one item returned to a seller who allowed returns.

Stupid me, thinking I was allowed to protect my own interests while shopping on eBay. One of my "bad" returns was due to my cancelling a purchase from a buyer with a no-return policy who was bidding on her own auctions to raise the price. A review of bids on her recent completed auctions showed a zero-feedback bidder for the last three months, had 100% of their bids with this seller, along with 26 bid retractions. I reported this seller to eBay twice, and yet this seller has not been suspended. And to make it worse, she is listed as a top-rated seller.

Ebay touts their buyer protection. But in reality, the buyer is the one who is punished, unless the buyer doesn't mind keeping things that were not as described and absorbing the loss. Casual, occasional buying might work on eBay, but if someone wants to make a majority of their purchases on eBay, it is not possible unless they are willing to accept financial loss for items that are misrepresented.

Overall, less-than-careful and/or dishonest sellers are undermining the entire eBay experience. Most sellers are excellent; I've found some of my best and most interesting clothing and collectibles there. It is a shame. I will miss eBay; to lose the ability to make purchases and sell items I no longer want is a big disappointment. What a strange way to treat a good customer (since 2002, 1100+ feedback, 100% positive as both a buyer and a seller).

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Poor Customer Service and Investigation

By ajaikido67 - 11/12/2012

Rating: 1/51

I have been an eBay member for a couple of months mostly as a buyer. One day I decided to be a seller and listed an item for sale (my first item) and the next day I received a very cryptic email send to me by eBay simply saying "Your listings were ended for the following reason: * Account Suspension".

All I did was to list a Dr Dre Solo headphone (genuine article, with receipt to prove). So I contacted them via email asking for a detailed reason. They replied the next day with another cryptic explanation: "We reviewed your account and found that there are many security issues about your account. Therefore, your account will remain suspended for security concerns, which include: account taken over by a third party; false/missing/mismatching account information and previous or current involvement in high risk selling."

So I asked them to explain further because I found it puzzling as I was the only owner and have been prompt in my payments as a buyer, my Paypal account and credit card was verified by eBay and all I did was to sell a headphone. All they did was to send me the same email as above, this time with an additional statement: "Although future mails from you might be read, we will not reply."

To add further to my issues, just 2 days before I listed my item for sale, I had purchase a hand phone case and paid promptly for it via PayPal. On the same day that eBay sent the account suspension notice, they also send a separate email to say that the item I had bid for was cancelled.

So I ask them via email, what they are going to do to help me since I had already paid for it or how am I going to get my money back? So far no response, probably because of their last statement that "all future emails will be read but will not reply". The experience as a first time seller has certainly not been positive at all for me.